April 17, 2023
Have you ever wondered why your social media posts just aren’t performing as well as they used to? Are you looking for ways to get across your information about your brand in a fun, accessible and thumb-stopping way? Maybe an animated video is the right way for you to go.
We’ve mentioned animation on here in the past, but only in the form of animated stickers. This blog post is about creating more long-form animated content.
Now, animation can be time-consuming, but the results are spectacular and really have the potential to go viral. We have known for a while now that major platforms like Instagram have pivoted to algorithmically boosting video content, but whereas filming live-action video can be far too resource-intensive, animation can offer a cheaper and quicker alternative. Animation studio ‘The Animation Guys’ had this to say:
“As well as grabbing attention, video content can also make social media messages more memorable. The human brain finds it much easier to compute visuals than text, so a video is processed more effortlessly (and in less time) than any other form. That means audiences are more likely to engage with a social media video than they would with a static image or text update.”
And as you can see the results speak for themselves.
Animation can be used for all sorts of purposes, such as educating and informing, communicating a brand message in an elegant way, or as a pure expression of creativity. Animation has thrived in the age of social media, where everyone is looking for the next shareable animation.
This recent Apple advert makes great use of animation, mixing it in with live-action film and giving it an exciting, bouncy energy
In recent years, text animation has become ubiquitous, as it’s a quick and fairly cheap way of livening up what would otherwise be a fairly unremarkable message. Take this recent Apple ad, for example, where they’re communicating their commitment to carbon-neutral production chains. For the most part, it is just text and a voiceover, but the animated text adds so much dynamism to the video:
I’ve long admired Vox’s use of animation, where they use it to bring to life their educational videos on a diverse range of topics.
Another avenue to explore is an animation made up of flat vector-based shapes that simplify the human form and bring brand awareness by making the product in question universal, like this ad from Slack.
And I couldn’t talk animation without mentioning our work with Cats Protection. Heeding the old Hollywood axiom of never working with animals, we opted instead to promote Cat’s Protection by coming up with our own cartoon mascot called Spud. We produced several animations featuring our feline friend, and they were hits across social media, really boosting the profile of Cats Protection. You can read more about it here.
If today’s blog post has piqued your interest and you would like to discuss creating an animated video or any other design work, you can get in touch with us through the contact information on our website. I hope that, if nothing else, today’s blog helps you be more aware of animated content when it pops up on your feed today!